Tennessee frosh survive primaries

Two House GOP freshmen from Tennessee survived forceful primary challenges Thursday evening, fending off opponents who sought to portray them as insufficiently conservative.

Rep. Chuck Fleischmann defeated Scottie Mayfield, a dairy mogul, and Weston Wamp, the 25-year-old son of former Rep. Zach Wamp. Rep. Diane Black, meanwhile, crushed Lou Ann Zelenik, a construction company executive who came within 283 votes of defeating her in 2010.

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With 92 percent of precincts reporting, Fleischmann received 39 percent to Mayfield’s 31 percent and Wamp’s 28 percent. With 93 percent of precincts reporting, Black led Zelenik 68 percent to 31 percent. The Associated Press called both races for the incumbents.

Their victories mean that the historic 87-member House Republican freshmen class remains undefeated in primaries this year.

Both overcame well-funded foes. Mayfield poured in more than $160,000 from his own pocket. Zelenik, meanwhile, had the support of Andy Miller, a Nashville investor who spent around $300,000 funding super PACs that aired TV ads attacking Black.

Fleischmann, whose 3rd District seat spans the Chattanooga area, had been seen as vulnerable in large part because he only narrowly won a hard-fought 2010 Republican primary, receiving 30 percent in a splintered field of candidates.

Both Mayfield and Wamp, a public relations executive, slammed Fleischmann over his record on federal spending, saying he had done little during his first term to halt the nation’s rising deficit. At one point, Mayfield aired a TV commercial portraying the congressman as an ally of President Barack Obama.

Fleischmann hit back, casting himself as a hard-working congressman who is attentive to the needs of his constituents. He also highlighted endorsements he had received from popular conservative figures including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Reps. Paul Ryan and Allen West.

Black, meanwhile, easily held off Zelenik, whom she last faced off against in an expensive 2010 race that was marked by a series of harshly negative attacks.

Zelenik, a former Rutherford County GOP chairwoman, cast Black as a liberal on federal spending, zeroing on her vote to raise the debt ceiling. The challenger also said the congresswoman had not spoken out against the construction of a local mosque, an attack that Zelenik, an anti-Islamic activist, also lodged in the 2010 race.

Zelenik received assistance from Miller, a Zelenik friend and former campaign finance chairman who has also been active in anti-Islamic circles and who contributed to two super PACs that focused on Black’s debt-ceiling vote.

Black, whose 6th District seat resides in the Middle Tennessee area, sought to shield herself from the assault by highlighting endorsements from West and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann. She also accused Zelenik of supporting higher taxes.

Both Fleischmann and Black, who occupy safely Republican seats, are expected to cruise to reelection in November.